Eyes on the Heights: Charter school contract addresses student achievement, Mosaica's fees and more

Students at the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy will have multiple academic supports that are detailed in 467 pages of contracts that created the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy.Libby March | MLive

MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI -- When charter school officials went to work building a new district in Muskegon Heights, they had their work cut out for them in a series of specific student achievement goals and curriculum requirements.

Those requirements are spelled out in 467 pages of documents that created the K-12 Muskegon Heights Public School Academy.

The requirements include getting schools off the state’s “priority” or “focus” schools lists; bi-weekly face-to-face meetings with students to gauge their progress toward academic goals; educational programs tailored to all students, including those who are struggling and those who are advanced; and after-school tutoring.

The specific requirements are detailed in contracts between the charter school board and Muskegon Heights Public Schools, which authorized the charter, and between the charter school board and Mosaica Education Inc., which is operating the charter school district.

“The bottom line is student achievement and no gray areas in terms of understanding what our objective is,” said Donald Weatherspoon, emergency financial manager for Muskegon Heights Public Schools.

Little gray area

Under its five-year contract, Mosaica will receive $7.75 million, as well as $1 million in license fees for its copyrighted humanities curriculum. It stands to receive more money if revenue hits set levels.

Donald Weatherspoon

Multiple authorities had a hand in creating the framework that started with Weatherspoon and Muskegon Heights school officials, who came up with about a dozen criteria they wanted included in the contract, Weatherspoon said. Separately, officials with the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District came up with their own criteria, he said.

The document then was forwarded to the state departments of Education and Treasury, where officials also added to it, he said.

“I didn’t want any hassle with people making up stuff as they went along,” Weatherspoon said. “We have a very, very detailed document that goes far beyond any other documents for a charter school or the requirements for high priority schools.”

Dave Sipka, superintendent of the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District, agreed that the requirements for Mosaica are substantial.

"Is it a tougher contract for this charter company? I think it is
because what is being attempted is something that hasn't been done in the United States before," Sipka said.

It's also more difficult for all involved because it's a transformation of an existing system rather than a start-up school, Sipka said.

"This is taking over something that existed. How do you fit that into what typically has been the model in the past and that’s a start-up model creating a district from scratch,” he said. "They had many challenges that they’ve had to face."

Before specific academic goals could be set, the system needed to test all students, which was to be done for K-8 students over the first couple weeks of school. The time frame for testing of high school students was left open.

The contract states that 30 days after results are received from the “fall testing period,” charter officials and Weatherspoon will meet to determine the academic “baseline” and academic growth targets for each grade for the academic year. The tests to be used are detailed and expected “college readiness achievement” scores are listed in a chart for all grades.

Target scores for the ACT are given as a 21 on reading, 22 on math, 24 on science and 18 on English. That will require significant improvement from 2011-12 scores, which were 14 in reading, 15.5 on math, 14.7 on science and 12.7 on English.

Mosaica must provide quarterly reports on student achievement as well as plans for meeting educational goals that aren’t being met. The three-member charter board will conduct a preliminary evaluation of Mosaica each December and a final evaluation each June.

Failure to show improved pupil achievement or meet education goals can result in revoking the charter contract. So can failure to demonstrate “sound fiscal stewardship.”

Muskegon Heights student test scores have been among some of the worst in the
state and the district was not meeting standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. For example, last year, no Muskegon Heights eighth-grader passed the state's
standardized math test, and passing rates among fifth-, sixth- and
seventh-graders, were 5 percent, 1
percent and 2 percent, respectively.

"When all is said and done, there has to be academic
progress," Weatherspoon said. "That's all that matters."

Specific requirements

Among contract requirements related to student learning are:

• The employment of specific types of staff members, including special education director, behavior intervention specialist, math and literacy coaches, curriculum implementation specialist, at-risk director, parent liaison, technology field support, school counselor and school social worker. The contract details their job responsibilities and qualifications.

• Teacher training on what achievement data to collect and when, how to analyze it and ways to modify curriculum and instruction on a daily basis.

Mosaica is required to provide after-school tutoring who students whose abilities are below grade level.Libby March | MLive

• Having teachers meet regularly in teams to develop strategies to improve learning and continually change those strategies until “virtually all students are performing at proficient levels, especially in core academic subjects.” Likewise, curriculum specialists or master teachers will review curriculum against student achievement data to monitor curriculum effectiveness.

• “Extended reading blocks” for all grades.

• Curriculum modifications for “high achievers” that can include independent projects, software programs that address higher concepts and a chance to participate in higher reading groups.

• Help to students who are below grade level that includes special reading and math centers, tutoring in school with staff, peers or volunteers and after-school tutoring with an adult.

• Curriculum that includes multiple learning strategies, including those that are inquiry-based and “technology rich.” Curriculum must use “blended learning” that includes teacher-led and online instruction.

• Biweekly one-on-one meetings between staff and students to discuss their progress, review data and set goals.

• Creation of education development plans for students when they are in the seventh grade to plot their educational plan.

CHARTER CONTRACT

View the 467-page document outlining requirements for the charter school district and Mosaica, the company that is operating it, at the Muskegon Heights Public schools website: www.mhpsnet.org.

Other aspects of the contracts include payment for services; a detailed, room-by-room inventory of each of the four schools; financial reporting responsibilities; and enrollment procedures. Included are:

• Payments to Mosaica for operating the district. The private company will receive $1.45 million this year, $1.5 million next year, $1.55 million in 2014-2015; $1.6 million in 2015-2016 and $1.65 million in 2016-2017. It also will receive a $200,000 licensing fee for each of the five years to cover its Paragon humanities curriculum. In addition, it will receive 12.5 percent of gross revenues that exceed set amounts that range from $13.2 million the first year to $14.8 million the fifth year.

• A management fee paid by the charter board to Muskegon Heights Public Schools equal to 3 percent of the charter district’s state aid. That fee will be used to pay off the district’s debt.

• A requirement that parents complete satisfaction surveys, which will be provided to the charter board annually.

• Details about the types of information that must be public, including teacher and administrator names and salaries,, copies of curriculum and other educational materials that are given to the board of education, copies of leases, and copies of bills for $10,000 or more.